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Reforming Health Care: The Paradoxes Of Cost, Edward A. Zelinsky

The Simon Review (Occasional Papers of the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute)

So let me explore with you why my judgment on this score proved inaccurate. In the proverbial nutshell, whatever happens in Washington in the weeks and months ahead, the United States is fated for the indefinite future to conduct a prolonged and difficult national debate on health care.

The reason for this protracted and arduous argument can be summarized in a single word: cost. Yet, paradoxically, the rhetoric of unspecified cost reduction is used to avoid the painful choices needed to prune health care outlays, choices that inevitably involve agonizing denials of medical services in a world of finite resources. …

Selecting Judges: Merit Selection And Other Matters, Stephen L. Wasby

The Simon Review (Occasional Papers of the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute)

The Paul Simon Public Policy Institute is pleased to publish this paper from Dr. Stephen L. Wasby who is Professor of Political Science Emeritus at the University at Albany-SUNY. Steve, who is a former Professor of Political Science at Southern Illinois University Carbondale, is a nationally recognized expert in the field of constitutional law and judicial processes. In this paper he surveys the various plans for selecting judges utilized by the fifty states. These plans break down broadly into elective versus appointive systems with those who use elections further distinguished by partisan versus non-partisan elections. The most popular plan is …

On Public Capital Investment And Economic Growth In Illinois, Subhash C. Sharma, Basharat Pitafi

The Simon Review (Occasional Papers of the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute)

The present paper was written as an analysis of the proposed capital budget plan which is being considered by the State of Illinois and which has been a major item on the political agenda in the state for well approximately two years. In the spring of 2008, Southern Illinois University President Glenn Poshard asked Dr. Subhash C. Sharma of the Department of Economics at Southern Illinois University Carbondale to do an analysis of the proposed capital improvements plan which was being advocated by then Governor Rod Blagojevich and being considered by the Illinois General Assembly. The plan would make a …

The Anatomy Of President Barack Obama's General Election Victory In Illinois, John S. Jackson

The Simon Review (Occasional Papers of the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute)

On November 4, 2008 the junior Senator from Illinois, Barack Obama, was elected the 44th President of the United States. Obama was the first president to be elected from Illinois since the Civil War era. Of course, Abraham Lincoln was the first and the most famous, and the 16th president was also the first Republican ever to be elected president since the party was only born in 1854. Given Lincoln’s stature and reputation as one of the greatest, and perhaps the greatest president in American history, it is not surprising that Obama took every opportunity available during his campaign to …

Confronting The State Budget And Establishing Quality-Of-Life Benchmarks In Illinois: Results And Analysis Of The Paul Simon Public Policy Institute 2008 Statewide Poll, Charles W. Leonard

The Simon Review (Occasional Papers of the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute)

In Fall 2008, The Paul Simon Public Policy Institute at Southern Illinois University Carbondale conducted its first statewide public opinion survey since 2004. Topics included the general direction of the country, the state, and respondents’ respective areas of the state; benchmark quality of life measures for education, public safety, the environment, and the economy; opinions on important public issues, such as a proposal to amend the Illinois Constitution to allow recall of statewide elected officials and the proposed Constitutional Convention; and opinions on judicial selection issues in the state. By far the most newsworthy section of the survey, released October …